

GEORGE W. YORK, Editor. 



39th YEAR, 



CHICAGO, ILL., AUGUST 31, 1899- 



No, 35, 



Foul Brood— Its Symptoms and Cure. 



BY N. K. FRANCE. 



FOUL brood is a contag^ious and fatal disease, dreaded 

 most of all by bee-keepers, as the disease kills the bee 

 ill the larval age, usuallj' from live to nine days from 

 the egfg: of the queen-bee. The honey or combs from an in- 

 fected colony contain the germs of disease, and, if left 

 where bees can g'et to them, will be sure to spread the dis- 

 ease. Never buy or use old combs, hives, bees, queen-bees 

 or implements from any apiary unless you are certain they 

 are from healthy bees. Often have I traced the spread of 

 the disease to such carelessness. 



SYMPTOMS OF FOUI, BROOD. 



1. Colony or swarm of bees appear weak 

 tect the hive-entrance. 



2. A part of the brood is 

 dead, the cappings sunken and 

 of a darker color. Ragged 

 holes soon appear in the cap- 

 pings. 



3. At first the bee shows . 

 brown streaks, changing to a 

 shapeless mass on the lower 

 side of the cell, in color much 

 like a cup of coffee when milk 

 is added. At this stage it will 

 be sticky or ropy, and if punct- 

 ured with a stick will draw 

 out much like warm glue. 



4. There is a peculiar 

 smell to foul brood in its ad- 

 vanced stage, much like old 

 glue when heated. In many 

 cases I have seen the odor was 

 easily noticed several rods 

 away. 



5. Old. diseased combs 

 will have some cells-with the 

 sunken cappings, underneath 

 which there will be in some 

 this brown, ropy substance ; 

 others will show it dried down 

 to a black bunch at the front 

 end of the cell, and still many 

 other cells will have this dried 

 down to a very thin scale, 

 hardly noticeable. But in all 

 these stages it will stick fast 

 to the lower side-wall. Please 



do not pro- 



examine closely the accompanying picture of a diseased 

 comb, containing all these stages described, taken from a 

 large apiary where every colony had died with the disease. 



TRK.4TMENT OF FOUL BROOD. 



1. The best time to cure foul brood is during the honey- 

 gathering season ; but. with great care and feeding, it can 

 be done at other times. First of all, have a clean hive, a 

 new one is best, but the old hive can be scraped clean, and, 

 to be sure, I either boil the liive well, or paint it inside with 

 kerosene oil, set atire, and, when well going, throw in some 

 water and close the hive tight. 



2. In the evening, or when no danger of robber-bees, 

 exchange the old hive on the stand for a new one. Shake 

 all the bees into the clean hive ; the hive to have some 

 strips two inches wide of comb foundation on six or eight 

 frames. I also cage the queen and fasten the cage between 

 the starters. Close the hive and part of the entrance and 

 let them alone four days. 



3. After four days exchange these frames and starters 

 for clean frames and sheets of comb foundation. Release 

 the queen and see that they have feed from this time on, 

 either from flowers or being fed healthy feed. Honey from 

 a diseased colony is not safe unless kept boiling and con- 

 stantlv stirred for at least an hour. All combs from such a 



[This illustratiou and ai' 

 fol- 



licle are talveu from a circular issued by Inspector N. E. France, 

 the use of Wisconsin bee-keepers. — Eiji'tok.I 



